Information notification method and information notification system

ABSTRACT

An information notification method includes coding information by a first information processing apparatus, displaying the coded information on a screen of the first information processing apparatus, obtaining displayed coded information as image information by a second information processing apparatus having an image-capturing unit, transmitting the obtained image information to a third information processing apparatus from the second information processing apparatus, receiving at the third information processing apparatus the image information transmitted from the second information processing apparatus, and decoding by the third information processing apparatus the received image information so as to obtain the coded information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of theprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-55288, filed on Mar. 9, 2009,the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments discussed herein relate to an information notificationmethod, an information notification system, an information processingapparatus, and an information notification program.

BACKGROUND

A typical remote computer may have a general function of displayingupdate information and an information transmission destination addressthat are formed as an image on a display unit. A mobile phone with animage-capturing function may decode an information transmissiondestination address from the information transmission destinationaddress that is captured and formed as an image, and transmit theinformation transmission destination address formed as an image to theinformation transmission destination address. A central computer has afunction of decoding the transmitted image information.

Furthermore, a typical method for obtaining service specific informationon a device by a portable terminal substitutes the service specificinformation communication unit of the device with bar code display, andan I/F unit for obtaining service specific information from the devicein the portable terminal with a bar code reader. In addition, other thanbar codes, a display that is capable of displaying two-dimensional barcode, such as a QR code, in accordance with the amount of servicespecific information is set as a service specific informationcommunication unit of the device.

Furthermore, a typical maintenance target device generally has anoperation panel for displaying the state inside the device in the formof two-dimensional bar code display. In such device, a mobile phone thathas a camera and sends the captured image of two-dimensional bar codecan be used, thereby notifying a computer of the state of themaintenance target device.

Technologies related to information notification methods are generallydiscussed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos.2006-178601, 2004-208256, and 2005-346577.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the invention, an information notificationmethod includes coding information by a first information processingapparatus, displaying the coded information on a screen of the firstinformation processing apparatus, obtaining displayed coded informationas image information by a second information processing apparatus havingan image-capturing unit, transmitting the obtained image information toa third information processing apparatus from the second informationprocessing apparatus, receiving at the third information processingapparatus the image information transmitted from the second informationprocessing apparatus, and decoding by the third information processingapparatus the received image information so as to obtain the codedinformation.

The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attainedby means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out inthe claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and arenot restrictive of the invention, as claimed. Additional aspects and/oradvantages will be set forth in part in the description which followsand, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learnedby practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages will become apparent and morereadily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information notification systemaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration of an informationnotification system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates function(s) of hardware of the informationnotification system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a configuration of the hardware of amonitoring processor illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate examples of the hardware configuration andthe software configuration of a cellular phone illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 illustrates a structure of a portable application illustrated inFIG. 5;

FIG. 7 illustrates function(s) of the cellular phone illustrated in FIG.3;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a configuration of the hardware of aservice center illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate QR codes according to an embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating operation(s) by an error codedetection program of the monitoring processor illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating operations by a QR code generationprogram of the monitoring processor illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C illustrate an example of generating QR codes inoperations by the QR code generation program illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating operations by the portableapplication illustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 14A is a flowchart illustrating operations by the portableapplication illustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 14B is a flowchart illustrating operations by the portableapplication illustrated in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating operations by a QR code analysisprogram of the service center illustrated in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Theembodiments are described below to explain the present invention byreferring to the figures.

To achieve qualitative improvements in services and reduce costs ofservices provided by a server serving to provide various services, it isdesired that notification of failure information be provided quickly andaccurately to a service center when a failure occurs in the server. Forexample, in an environment in which a server provides services relatedto bank business, it is required that failure information be notifiedusing a dedicated line without the intervention of a public network fromthe point of view of security.

Prior to the detailed description of an embodiment, a reference examplewill be described.

In the above-described environment, the notification of failureinformation from a monitoring processor incorporated in the server tothe service center is performed by the following method.

When the server is connected with a network, the failure informationdetected by the monitoring processor is notified to the service centervia the network.

On the other hand, in a case where the server is not connected with anetwork, it is not possible to notify the failure information detectedby the monitoring processor to the service center via the network. Inthis case, the failure information detected by the monitoring processoris displayed on a management terminal, and a server manager confirms thecontent of the displayed failure information, and notifies the servicecenter by using communication device such as a telephone. Alternatively,the server manager copies the failure information displayed on themanagement terminal manually, and notifies it to the service center byusing electronic mail for example.

In the reference example, the following problems are considered.

In a case where a server cannot be connected to a network due to asecurity reason, such as the server is used in the banking business, aseries of operations to perform notification from the monitoringprocessor to the service center is performed by the server managermanually. In this case, the failure information detected by themonitoring processor is displayed on the management terminal, and theserver manager notifies the service center of the information displayedon the management terminal by using a telephone or by manual operations.Thus, information leakage and/or malfunctions can occur.

In an embodiment, a system that notifies failure information of aninformation processing apparatus that is not connected to a network toan information processing apparatus of a notification destination isprovided.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the invention.

In FIG. 1, a server 10 is not connected to a network. In FIG. 1, themonitoring processor 100 generates a QR code based on informationincluding the detected failure information when a monitoring processor100 inside the server 10 detects failure information regarding theserver 10. The monitoring processor 100 displays the generated QR codeon a screen of a management terminal 150 of the server 10, which has abrowser user interface (BUI), a panel, and the like. The QR codedisplayed on the screen of the management terminal 150 is captured by acellular phone 200 provided with a built-in camera (hereinafter referredto as a “cellular phone”). The cellular phone 200 is disposed in such amanner that the built-in camera faces the screen of the managementterminal 150. The cellular phone 200 transmits the image of the QR codecaptured by the built-in camera to a server provided in a service center(hereinafter such server referred to as a “service center”) by using theelectronic mail transmission function of the cellular phone 200. Whilegeneration of a QR code is used as an example, the present invention isnot limited to any particular type of code using which the detectioninformation is presented.

A management terminal 350 provided in a service center 300 receives theimage of the QR code transmitted from the cellular phone 200. Theservice center 300 receives, from the management terminal 350, the imageon the QR code received from the cellular phone 200, and analyzes anddecodes the QR code, thereby obtaining the failure information detectedby the monitoring processor 100. The service center 300 displays theobtained failure information on the screen of the management terminal350.

The manager of the service center 300 recognizes the failure informationdisplayed on the management terminal 350 and prepares, for example,replacement parts necessary to deal with the failure of the server 10,which is the transmission source of the failure information. In theservice center 300, the QR code is decoded by using a QR code decodingprogram, and failure information coded into a QR code is obtained.

According to the embodiment, it is possible to perform a series ofoperations necessary to notify the service center 300 of failureinformation from the server 10 even in an environment in which theserver 10 cannot be connected to the network because of security reasonfor example. As a result, in the present embodiment, it is possible toprevent leakage of failure information which the service center 300 isto be notified of, or an occurrence of mistakes during operations ofnotification of failure information, and the like, which can occur as aresult of manual operations of the server manager. Therefore, accordingto the present embodiment, it is possible to notify the service center300 of the failure information of the server 10 without requiring theserver manager to perform manual operations.

According to the present embodiment, it is possible for the servermanager to eliminate operations, such as copying the content of thefailure information by manual operations, and can transmit the failureinformation in more quicker and more accurate way. Furthermore,according to the present embodiment, even in a case where a networkcannot be used due to the problem of security in business, inparticular, it is possible to automatically perform a series ofoperations for notification of failure information without humanintervention.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, as illustratedin FIG. 1, information indicating the failure detected by the monitoringprocessor 100 inside the server 10 is transmitted to the service center300 via a network 500. In the present embodiment, the failureinformation is coded into a QR code, and the QR code is displayed on thescreen of the management terminal 150 in the form of a panel, a BUI, orthe like. Then, the cellular phone 200 disposed so as the built-incamera directly faces the screen of the management terminal 150 capturesthe QR code displayed on the screen of the management terminal 150.Then, the image of the QR code captured by using the built-in camera ofthe cellular phone 200 is transmitted from the cellular phone 200 to theservice center 300 by an electric mail, for example as shown in FIG. 2.As a result, even in an environment where information transmission viathe network is not possible due to the security reason, it is possibleto perform a series of operations related to the notification of thefailure information. In the present embodiment, as a result of a seriesof operations related to the notification of the failure informationbeing automated, the possibility of information leakage, occurrence oferrors, and the like can be eliminated.

FIG. 3 illustrates a hardware configuration of an informationnotification system according to an embodiment. The informationnotification system illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a monitoringprocessor 100 inside the server 10, the management terminal 150 on theserver 10 side, the cellular phone 200, the service center 300, and themanagement terminal 350 on the service center side. The service center300 has a QR code decoding program 310.

The monitoring processor 100 includes an error code detection program110, a queue 120, in fact a memory device, and a QR code generationprogram 130. When the monitoring processor 100 detects failure occurredwithin the server 10, the monitoring processor 100 stores an error codecorresponding to the detected failure in the queue 120 each time thefailure is detected. The monitoring processor 100 periodically extractsthe error code stored in the queue 120, and generates a QR code based onthe extracted error code. Since the size of the QR code is limited, inFIG. 2, it is assumed that the size of an error code to be extracted togenerate one QR code is limited to be 4 kB or less. While an exemplarylimit size is discussed herein, the present invention is not limited toa particular code and as such threshold size may vary.

When generating a QR code, the monitoring processor 100 sequentiallyextracts the error codes in an order of the occurrence of the failurefrom the queue 120, and uses the error codes so as to generate a QRcode. The monitoring processor 100 displays the generated QR code on thescreen of the management terminal 150. Furthermore, the monitoringprocessor 100 periodically updates the QR code displayed on the screenof the management terminal 150.

The QR code displayed on the screen of the management terminal 150 isperiodically captured by the built-in camera of the cellular phone 200,and is transmitted to the service center 300 via the communicationnetwork 500 through electronic mail or the like. The timing of the imagecapturing of the cellular phone 200 and the timing of the updating ofthe QR code displayed on the screen of the management terminal 150 iscontrolled including to be synchronized.

When the service center 300 receives a QR code from the cellular phone200 via the communication network 500, the QR code is analyzed by the QRcode analysis program 310 and is decoded, and failure information thatis coded into a QR code is obtained. Then, the service center 300displays the obtained failure information on the management terminal350.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of themonitoring processor 100.

The monitoring processor 100 includes a CPU module 101, an I/O subsystem103, a memory subsystem 102, a system control unit 104, and a hard disk(HD) device 105. The CPU module 101 provides data processing including acomputation function. The I/O subsystem 103 provides an interfacefunction of exchanging information with external device(s). The systemcontrol unit 104 provides a function of managing including operations ofthe entire monitoring processor 100. The memory subsystem 102 and thehard disk device 105 store various kinds of programs and data, and alsoprovides a work area for the CPU module 101. Examples of programs to bestored in the memory subsystem 102 and the hard disk device 105 includethe error code detection program 110 and the QR code generation program130 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The programs 110 and 130 are installedinto the monitoring processor 100. By executing these programs by theCPU module 101, the functions as the monitoring processor 100 arerealized.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show a hardware and a software configuration of thecellular phone 200.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the cellular phone 200 includes, as hardware, amain board 210 on which various kinds of electronic circuits aremounted, a battery (power supply) 204, a screen display device (display)230, a camera 240, a keyboard 230, a microphone 220, and a speaker 220.The battery 204 supplies electric power to each component inside thecellular phone 200. While specific components are shown as part of thecellular phone, the present invention is not limited to any particulartype or number of components.

As illustrated in FIG. 5B, the main board 210 has a CPU 211 and a memory212 mounted thereon. The CPU 212 provides a computation function.Programs and/or data are stored in the memory 212, and the memory 212 isalso used as a work area for the CPU 212.

Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, the cellular phone 200 has awireless unit 201 that implements a wireless communication function, anapplication unit 202 that implements various functions of display,operation, electronic mail, dialing, and the like, and a datacommunication unit 203 that controls audio communication and datacommunication. These units can be implemented as software. Anapplication program (hereinafter referred to as a “portableapplication”) 280 as the application unit 202 is installed into thecellular phone 200. By executing the portable application by the CPU211, each of the functions of the cellular phone 200 is controlled. Theportable application 280 is stored in the memory 212.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a configuration of the portableapplication 280.

The portable application 280 includes control part 281 and a comparisonpart 282. The control part 281 controls various functions possessed bythe cellular phone 200, including the functions of the wireless part 201and the data communication unit 203. Furthermore, the control part 281performs control of switching of the modes possessed by the cellularphone 200, calling of each function, obtaining of data, operation ofpasting data in electronic mail, and the like.

The comparison part 282 determines whether the QR code has successfullyread or not, which is displayed on the screen of the management terminal150 of the server 10, and whether the QR code is a code in whichinformation indicating an abnormality of a system is recorded, and thetransmission of the QR code has succeeded or failed. Furthermore, thecomparison part 282 determines a timing of calling various kinds ofoperations, such as transmission of electronic mail and switching ofmodes.

FIG. 7 illustrates various functions possessed by the cellular phone200.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the cellular phone 200 includes a camerafunction 221, a bar code reader function 222, a charging function 223, atimer function 224, an electronic mail transmission function 225, atelephone directory function 226, an electronic mail generation function227 to generate new electric mails, and a storage function 228 to storeelectric mails that are not transmitted yet (such function referred toas “not yet transmitted electronic mail storage function”). Thesevarious functions are controlled by the portable application 280.

The constituent portions provided in a cellular phone which has beencurrently put in the market can be used as for the constituent portionsthat realize the various functions 221 to 228 illustrated in FIG. 7. Theportable application 280 provides the functions of calling and operationchecking of the various functions 221 to 228. The control part 281 ofthe portable application 280 enables the calling of the camera function221, the bar code reader function 222, the timer function 223, theelectronic mail transmission function 224, the telephone directoryfunction 225, the new electronic mail generation function 226, and thenot yet transmitted electronic mail storage function 227.

Since the addresses of the server manager and the service center 300become necessary when notification is made to the server manager and theservice center 300, the addresses of the server manager and the servicecenter 300 are registered in advance in the telephone directory function226. Furthermore, the database for storing QR codes do not indicatingfailure of the server are registered by using the storage function ofthe telephone directory function 226, a memory card (not illustrated),the telephone directory function 226, the not yet transmitted electronicmail storage function 228, and the like.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of the servicecenter 300.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the service center 300 can be a personalcomputer as an example. The personal computer used as the service center300 includes a CPU 301, a memory 302, and a hard disk device 304.

The CPU 301 provides a computation function. The memory 302 and the harddisk device 304 store programs and data and also provides a work areafor the CPU 301. The QR code analysis program 310 is installed into apersonal computer used as the service center 300. By executing the QRcode analysis program 310 by the CPU 301, the functions as the servicecenter 300 are realized.

Information which is a basis for the QR code generated by the monitoringprocessor 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 9.

The information which is a basis for the QR code includes informationindicating failed parts of the server, positions of the failed parts,error code indicating a kind of occurred failure or the like, and theaddress indicating the place where the failure occurred. Furthermore, asthe information which is a basis for the QR code, information for anormal system (FIG. 9A) and information for an abnormal system (FIG. 9B)are provided. The information for a normal system is informationgenerated in a case where the monitoring processor 100 has not detectedthe failure of the server 10. On the other hand, the information for anabnormal system is information generated in a case where the monitoringprocessor 100 has detected a failure of the server 10.

A case which the cellular phone 200 fails to read the QR code displayedon the screen of the management terminal 150 can be assumed. In order tomake it possible to detect that the cellular phone 200 has failed toread the QR code, the information for a normal system is providedseparately from the information for an abnormal system in the presentembodiment. As an example of case where the cellular phone failed toread a QR code may include, a case where the cellular phone 200 movesfrom a position where the cellular phone is disposed due to theinfluence of an earthquake or the like, and the state in which thebuilt-in camera of the cellular phone 200 faces the screen of themanagement terminal 150 to capture the displayed QR code is distorted.

The information which is a basis for the QR code of a normal systemillustrated in FIG. 9A does not particularly include failureinformation. For this reason, “error code” is set to “000 . . . ” (all“0”), and “0” is set to “address”.

On the other hand, the information for an abnormal system illustrated inFIG. 9B includes “error code” and “address”.

The “error code” corresponds to failure information and indicates theinformation corresponding to the part of the server in which a failurehas occurred, the position of the part, failure content, and the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 9B, information such as the information on thefailed parts, the positions of the parts, and the failure content arecoded like “100 . . . ”, “200 . . . ”, . . . , “800 . . . ”, and theseinformation are set as error codes. Because of a characteristic of theQR codes, the size of the information to be coded to the QR code islimited to 4 kB or less in the present embodiment. If the amount ofinformation of the “error code” to be coded into the QR code exceedsinformation 4 kB, “error codes” to be coded are selected in sequence inthe order of their occurrence, selected from older code in other way,and a QR code is generated by using the selected “error code” of 4 kB orless.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating operations of the error codedetection program 110 possessed by the monitoring processor 100.

In FIG. 10, the CPU module 101 of the monitoring processor 100 performsthe following operations by executing the error code detection program110.

Normally, the CPU module 101 is in a waiting state (S1). When the CPUmodule 101 detects a failure inside the server 10 (S2), the CPU module101 generates an error code based on failure information related to thedetected failure each time the failure is detected, and stores thegenerated error code in the queue 120 (S3). Operation of storing theerror code in the queue 120 is performed for each item of the occurredfailure, that is, for each event. When the storage operation (S3) iscompleted, or when the failure information has not been detected, theCPU module 101 returns to the waiting state again (S1).

When a failure is detected once more (S2), the CPU module 101 stores theerror code corresponding to the detected failure in the queue 120 again(S3).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating operations of the QR code generationprogram 130 possessed by the monitoring processor 100.

In FIG. 11, the CPU module 101 of the monitoring processor 100 performsthe following operations by executing the QR code generation program130.

The CPU module 101 periodically checks the amount of information storedin the queue 120 for one event. More specifically, after the CPU module101 waits for a certain time period (S21), the CPU module 101 resets avalue of an information counter for counting an amount of theinformation stored in the queue 120 to zero (S22), and determineswhether or not information for one event exists in the queue 120corresponds to an amount of information for one event (S23). When thedetermination result shows that the information for one event exists inthe queue 120 (“exists” in S23), the CPU module 101 counts the amount ofinformation for one event stored in the queue 120 by using theinformation counter (S25). In this case, the amount of information forone event is added to the counted value of the information counter.

When the result of the counting in S25 indicates that the count value ofthe information counter is 4 kB or less (“4 kB or less” in S26), the CPUmodule 101 extracts an error code for one event from the queue 120(S27). The CPU module 101 stores the extracted error code as“information for generating a QR code” in a predetermined memory area ofthe memory subsystem 102. The CPU module 101 repeats the operation ofthe loop of S23, S25, S26, and S27 until the count value of theinformation counter exceeds 4 kB. Furthermore, the CPU module 101performs the extraction of the error code from the queue 120 in theorder of occurrence of the events.

When the result of the determination in S26 indicates that the countvalue of the information counter exceeds 4 kB (“4 kB is exceeded” inS26), the CPU module 101 does not extract the error code for the oneevent from the queue 120 and causes the process to proceed to S28. InS28, the CPU module 101 generates a QR code (abnormal system) (S28). Thegeneration of the QR code is performed based on the error codes that arestored in sequence in a predetermined memory area of the memorysubsystem 102 as “information for generating a QR code” as the result ofthe operation of the loop of S23, S25, S26, and S27.

On the other hand, when the result of the determination in S23 indicatesthat an error code for one event does not exist in the queue 120, theCPU module 101 causes the process to proceed to S24. There are followingtwo examples for a case in which an error code for one event does notexist in the queue 120.

A first example is that S23 is performed first after undergoing S21 andS22. In this case, any error code may not exist in the queue 120.

A second example is that S23 is performed after the operation of theloop of S23, S25, S26, and S27 is performed one or more times. In thiscase, error code may be dequeued from the queue 120.

In S24, the CPU module 101 determines whether or not the count value ofthe information counter is zero by referring to the information counter.When the count value of the information counter is not zero, the CPUmodule 101 causes the process to proceed to S28, to generate a QR code(abnormal system). In this case corresponds to the above-mentionedsecond example, and the queue 120 becomes empty before the countedamount of the information counter exceeds 4 kB in S26.

On the other hand, when the result in S24 indicates that the count valueof the information counter is zero, the CPU module 101 generates a QRcode (normal system) in S29 (see FIG. 9A). At this time, no error codesexist in the queue 120 in the operation of FIG. 11, and this correspondsto the above-mentioned first example. This means that, no new failure isgenerated in the server 10 after the operation of FIG. 11 which wasperformed before performing S24. Therefore, a QR code for a normalsystem is generated in S29.

When the QR code is generated in S28 or S29, the CPU module 101 displaysthe generated QR code on the screen of the management terminal 150.Thereafter, each time a certain time period is passed (S21), the CPUmodule 101 checks the queue 120 again, and resets the count value of theinformation counter to zero (S22). Thereafter, the CPU module 101performs the operation of S23 and subsequent operations.

When the count value of the information counter exceeds 4 kB in S26, anerror code still remains in the queue 120. The error code remaining inthe queue 120 is used to generate a QR code in the next operation ofFIG. 11 as described with reference to FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example generating QR codes in operations by theQR code generation program of the monitoring processor illustrated inFIG. 3. FIG. 12A illustrates a case in which the amount of informationof the error code for generating a QR code does not exceed 4 kB. FIG.12A corresponds to the second example described in FIG. 11, in which aQR code is generated by the operations of S23, S24, and S28. In thiscase, all the error codes stored in the queue 120 in the process of FIG.11 are extracted, and QR codes are generated based on all the extractederror codes. The example FIG. 12A illustrates an example in which QRcodes are generated from an error code (“100 . . . ” to “160 . . . ”)for one event. The error code is extracted for each event and coded intoa QR code. Consequently, there is a case in which the error code iscoded into a QR code in a state in which the amount of information ofthe error code does not reach 4 kB. That is, in a case where the errorcode for one oldest event does not reach 4 kB, but the error codeexceeds 4 kB if the error code corresponds to the next old one event isadded, a QR code is generated in a state where the error code does notreach 4 kB.

FIG. 12B illustrates a case in which the amount of information of theerror code for generating a QR code exceeds 4 kB. In FIG. 12B, errorcodes stored in the queue 120 are extracted in the order of theiroccurrence for each event, and are coded into QR codes within a rangethat does not exceed 4 kB. In the example of FIG. 12B, when the errorcodes (“200 . . . ” to “220 . . . ”) of the oldest event and the errorcodes (“300 . . . ”, “310 . . . ”) of the next old event are added, theamount of added error codes is 4 kB or less. However, when the errorcodes (“400 . . . ” to “420 . . . ”) of the next old, that is the thirdold event, is added, the amount of added error codes exceeds 4 kB. Inthis case, the error code of the third old event is processed during thenext operation of FIG. 11.

FIG. 12C illustrates a case where the error code of the third old eventis processed. In the case of FIG. 12C, the error codes (“400 . . . ” to“420 . . . ”) of the event, which have not previously been extracted andremains in the queue 120 is stored in the queue 120 as they are.Furthermore, the error code (“500 . . . ”), the error code (“600 . . . ”to “610 . . . ”), and the error code (“700 . . . ”) of the next threeevents is also stored in the queue 120. That is, in the state of FIG.12C, a total of four error codes correspond to four events is stored inthe queue 120. The sizes of the error codes of the first and secondevents among the four events stored in the queue 120 are 4 kB or less,and if the error code of the third event is added to these two errorcodes, the size of the added error codes exceeds 4 kB. Therefore, inthis case, the error codes of the first and second events are extractedand coded into a QR code, and the error codes of the third and fourthevents are further passed to the next process.

Next, with reference to FIG. 13, the operation of the portableapplication 280 will be described.

The operations of FIG. 13 are performed at certain time intervals byexecuting the portable application 280 by the CPU 211.

In the operations of FIG. 13, in order to read the image of a QR codefrom the screen of the management terminal 150 and to transmit the readinformation to the service center 300, the cellular phone 200 isprovided. The portable application 280 is installed into the cellularphone 200. The portable application 280 is executed by the CPU 211 ofthe cellular phone 200, making it possible to transmit the QR code fromthe cellular phone 200. Furthermore, in order to enable the cellularphone 200 to read the QR code displayed on the screen of the managementterminal 150, the cellular phone 200 is fixed at a position at which thescreen of the management terminal 150 can be captured with a built-incamera. Furthermore, the management terminal 150 in which the screen iscaptured by the cellular phone 200 is fixed at a predetermined positionin advance. In this disposed state, the cellular phone 200 periodicallycaptures the QR code displayed on the screen of the management terminal150 by the built-in camera (S41, S42). The image capturing of the QRcode is performed by the camera function 221 using a built-in camera,and a time interval for capturing the QR code is determined by the timerfunction 224. The image capturing of the QR code is performed when thebar code reader function 222 is called by the control part 281 of theportable application 280. The timing at which each of the camerafunction 221 and the bar code reader function 222 is performed iscontrolled by the control part 281.

Next, in S43, the CPU 211 determines whether or not the QR code issuccessfully captured in S42. In the case that the QR code issuccessfully captured, the CPU 211 determines whether or not thecaptured QR code is a QR code for a normal system or a QR code for anabnormal system. In a case where the QR code is successfully capturedand it is confirmed that the captured QR code is for an abnormal system(“abnormal system” in S43), the CPU 211 transmits the QR code to theservice center 300 (S44). To determine whether the QR code is for anormal system or for an abnormal system in S43, the portable application280 has a database for the normal system QR codes in advance. Thedatabase for a normal system has been registered by using the storagefunction, such as the memory card, the telephone directory function 226,and the not yet transmitted electronic mail storage function 228.

The CPU 211 compares the database for a normal system (FIG. 9A) with thecontent of the QR code read in S42. When the result of the comparisonshows that they are identical, the read QR code is determined to be of anormal system. On the other hand, when the result of the comparisonillustrates that they are not the same, the read QR code is determinedto be of an abnormal system. The confirmation of whether or not the readQR code is for an abnormal system is performed by calling the databaseof a normal system, and by comparing the QR code registered in thedatabase of a normal system with the read QR code by the CPU 211 underthe control of the comparison part 282 of the portable application 280.

After the comparison of the QR codes, the CPU 211 calls the newelectronic mail generation function 227 and pastes the read QR code inthe text of the electronic mail. Furthermore, the CPU 211 calls theaddress of the service center 300 from the telephone directory function226 and sets the address as the destination of the electronic mail.Next, the CPU 211 calls the electronic mail transmission function 225and transmits electronic mail (S44, S46).

There is a case in which the transmission of electronic mail fails dueto the influence of a radio wave. In this case, the CPU 211 reports thefailure to the server manager (S45). In this case, the CPU 211 calls thenot yet transmitted electronic mail storage function 228, accesses theaddress of the server manager from the telephone directory function 226,and sets the address in the destination of the electronic mail whosetransmission has failed. Furthermore, the CPU 211 calls the electronicmail transmission function 225 and transmits the electronic mail whosetransmission has failed.

On the other hand, when the determination result of S43 indicates a“normal system”, the CPU 211 does not transmit the read QR code, waitsfor a certain time period (S41), and captures the QR code again (S42).In this case, the CPU 211 temporarily completes the bar code readerfunction 222, and waits until a certain time period is passed by usingthe timer function 224.

When the result of S43 indicates “reading failed”, the CPU 211 reportsthe reading failure to the server manager (S45). In this case, the CPU211 causes the control part 281 of the portable application 280 to callthe new electronic mail generation function 227, and sets thedestination of the server manager in the new electronic mail by usingthe telephone directory function 226. Then, the CPU 211 uses theelectronic mail transmission function 225 so as to transmit theelectronic mail.

In the information notification system of the present embodiment, in acase where the cellular phone 200 needs to be operated for 24 hours soas to maintain a state in which the QR code of an abnormal system can betransmitted, an environment in which the cellular phone 200 can bealways charged and a radio wave can be always reached is provided.

With reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B, an example of operations forreporting to the server manager in S45 of FIG. 13 will be describedbelow. FIG. 14A illustrates an example of an operation in a case wherethe transmission of a QR code has failed (“transmission failed” in S44of FIG. 13). FIG. 14B illustrates an example of an operation in a casewhere the reading of the QR code has failed (“reading failed” in S43 ofFIG. 13). Each of the operations is performed by executing the portableapplication 280 by the CPU 211.

In a case where the transmission of the QR code has failed in FIG. 14A,the CPU 211 displays a message of “OR code reading failed” on the screenof the cellular phone 200 (S61). After displaying the message or after acertain time period has passed, the control part 281 calls the not yettransmitted electronic mail storage function 228 (S62). The CPU 211 setsthe address of the server manager, which was accessed from the telephonedirectory function 226, in the electronic mail that is stored as not yettransmitted electronic mail (S63), and transmits the electronic mail byusing the electronic mail transmission function 225 (S64).

The electronic mail is stored as the not yet transmitted electronic mailby the not yet transmitted electronic mail storage function 228 at thetime of “transmission failed” in S44 of FIG. 13. Therefore, the QR codehas been pasted to the text of the not yet transmitted electronic mailin S44.

In the case that the reading of the QR code fails in FIG. 14B, the CPU211 displays the message of “transmission failed” on the screen of thecellular phone 200 (S81). Then, by using the control part 281 of theportable application 280, the new electronic mail generation function227 is called (S82). The CPU 211 sets the address of the server manager,which was accessed from the telephone directory function 226, in the newelectronic mail (S83), and transmits the electronic mail by using theelectronic mail transmission function 225 (S84). No information iscontained in the main text of the new electronic mail.

The distinction between the case of the reading failure in FIG. 14B andthe case in which the electronic mail could not be transmitted in FIG.14A can be made according to whether or not information has been put inthe text of the electronic mail transmitted in S84 and S64. Theelectronic mail transmitted to the server manager in S64 of FIG. 14A iselectronic mail related to “transmission failed” in S44 of FIG. 13 andis electronic mail in which the QR code has already been pasted to themain text in S44.

On the other hand, the electronic mail transmitted to the server managerin S84 of FIG. 14B is electronic mail that has been newly generated bythe new electronic mail generation function 227, with no informationcontained in the main text.

A description will be given below, with reference to FIG. 15, ofoperations of the QR code analysis program 310 possessed by the servicecenter 300. The QR code analysis program 310 is installed into theservice center 300 in advance. Furthermore, the QR code analysis program310 has, in the form of a database, information on failed parts, thepositions of the parts, error codes of failure content and the like, andinformation on addresses.

By executing the QR code analysis program 310 by the CPU 301, the CPU301 periodically receives a QR code transmitted from the cellular phone200 (S101, S102). Upon receiving the QR code, (“OR code exists” inS102), the CPU 301 decodes the received QR code. The CPU 301 comparesthe analysis result of the QR code with the information in the databaseof information on error codes and addresses (S104). When the result ofthe comparison shows that the information contained in the QR codematches the information in the database (“match” in S104), the CPU 301displays, on the management terminal 350, the information on thereplacement part corresponding to a “failed part” contained in the errorcode (S106).

On the other hand, when the information contained in the QR code doesnot match the information in the database (“unmatch” in S104), the CPU301 reports the unmatch to the manager of the service center 300 (S105).Furthermore, when the QR code has not been received (“OR code does notexist” in S102) or when the information display on the managementterminal 350 is completed, the CPU 301 waits for a certain time period(S101) until the QR code is received once more in S102.

As has been described above, in the present embodiment, since aninformation processing apparatus is disposed so that coded informationthat is displayed on a screen by an information processing apparatus ofan information notification source can be obtained as image information,the information processing apparatus can obtain the coded information asimage information. Therefore, it is possible to easily and more reliablyreport information from the information processing apparatus of theinformation notification source.

A computer-implemented method is provided that executes an operationincluding periodically capturing information from a first apparatususing a camera, translating the captured information to determineoccurrence of an error and providing a notification to a secondapparatus.

The embodiments can be implemented in computing hardware (computingapparatus) and/or software, such as (in a non-limiting example) anycomputer that can store, retrieve, process and/or output data and/orcommunicate with other computers. The results produced can be displayedon a display of the computing hardware. A program/software implementingthe embodiments may be recorded on computer-readable media comprisingcomputer-readable recording media. The program/software implementing theembodiments may also be transmitted over transmission communicationmedia. Examples of the computer-readable recording media include amagnetic recording apparatus, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk,and/or a semiconductor memory (for example, RAM, ROM, etc.). Examples ofthe magnetic recording apparatus include a hard disk device (HDD), aflexible disk (FD), and a magnetic tape (MT). Examples of the opticaldisk include a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a DVD-RAM, a CD-ROM(Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), and a CD-R (Recordable)/RW. An exampleof communication media includes a carrier-wave signal.

Further, according to an aspect of the embodiments, any combinations ofthe described features, functions and/or operations can be provided.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the inventionand the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, andare to be construed as being without limitation to such specificallyrecited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of suchexamples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority andinferiority of the invention. Although a few embodiments have been shownand described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in these embodiments without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe claims and their equivalents.

1. An information notification method, comprising: generating codinginformation by a first information processing apparatus based oninformation including detected failure information; displaying the codedinformation on a screen of the first information processing apparatus;capturing displayed coded information, as image information, by a secondinformation processing apparatus having an image-capturing unit;transmitting the obtained image information to a third informationprocessing apparatus from the second information processing apparatus;receiving, at the third information processing apparatus, the imageinformation transmitted from the second information processingapparatus; and decoding, by the third information processing apparatus,the received image information so as to obtain the coded information. 2.The information notification method according to claim 1, wherein thefirst information processing apparatus updates the displayed informationat a predetermined time period, and the second information processingapparatus periodically obtains the image information displayed on thefirst information processing apparatus at a time interval synchronizedwith a time interval at which the displayed information is updated. 3.The information notification method according to claim 1, wherein thesecond information processing apparatus obtains, as image information,the information displayed on the screen of the first informationprocessing apparatus and determines whether the obtained information ispredetermined information, and the second information processingapparatus does not transmit the obtained image information to the thirdinformation processing apparatus when the obtained information is thepredetermined information, and transmits the obtained image informationto the third information processing apparatus when the obtainedinformation is not the predetermined information.
 4. The informationnotification method according to claim 1, wherein the second informationprocessing apparatus generates an electronic mail that contains theobtained image information, and transmits the generated electronic mailto the third information processing apparatus.
 5. The informationnotification method according to claim 1, wherein the first informationprocessing apparatus converts information into a QR code, and displaysthe converted QR code on the screen, the second information processingapparatus obtains, as image information, the QR code displayed on thescreen of the first information processing apparatus, and transmits theobtained QR code to the third information processing apparatus, and thethird information processing apparatus receives the QR code transmittedfrom the second information processing apparatus, and decodes the QRcode so as to obtain the information before being converted into the QRcode.
 6. An information notification system, comprising: a firstinformation processing apparatus including a coding unit configured togenerate code information based on information including detectedfailure information, and a display unit configured to display the codedinformation; a second information processing apparatus including animage-capturing unit that captures image information displayed on thedisplay unit of the first information processing apparatus, and atransmission unit configured to transmit the image information obtainedby the image-capturing unit to a third information processing apparatus;and the third information processing apparatus including a receivingunit configured to receive the image information transmitted from thesecond information processing apparatus, and a decoding unit configuredto decode the image information received by the receiving unit.
 7. Theinformation notification system according to claim 6, wherein the firstinformation processing apparatus periodically updates the informationdisplayed on the display unit, and the image-capturing unit of thesecond information processing apparatus periodically obtains, as imageinformation, the information displayed on the screen of the firstinformation processing apparatus in synchronization with a timing atwhich the displayed information is updated.
 8. The informationnotification system according to claim 6, wherein the second informationprocessing apparatus includes a determination unit configured todetermine whether the information obtained by the image-capturing unitis predetermined information, and wherein the second informationprocessing apparatus does not transmit the image information of theobtained information to the third information processing apparatus whenthe determination of the determination unit indicates that the obtainedinformation is the predetermined information, and transmits the obtainedimage information to the third information processing apparatus when theobtained information is not the predetermined information.
 9. Theinformation notification system according to claim 6, wherein the secondinformation processing apparatus is a cellular phone, and transmits theimage information to the third information processing apparatus by usingan electronic mail transmission function possessed by the cellularphone.
 10. An information processing apparatus, comprising: theinformation processing apparatus configured to communicate with acomputer to execute an operation including: capturing, as imageinformation, information displayed on a screen of an informationprocessing apparatus of an information notification source, saidinformation displayed being based on detected failure information;selectively transmitting the image information captured; and controllingthe image information to provide notification pertaining to theinformation processing apparatus.
 11. The information processingapparatus according to claim 10, wherein the information processingapparatus is a cellular phone, and transmits the captured imageinformation by using an electronic mail transmission function possessedby the cellular phone.
 12. A tangible computer-readable recording mediumhaving stored thereon an information notification program for causing acomputer to execute an operation including controlling an informationprocessing apparatus, comprising: capturing, as image information,information displayed on a screen of an information processing apparatusof an information notification source at a predetermined timing, theinformation displayed being code information generated responsive to adetected failure; and transmitting the image information captured to aninformation processing apparatus of an information notificationdestination.